Life in Africa

Tim, one of our mission advisors, tells us about his first mission trip to Africa.

My first experience of AIM was as a fresh-faced 21-year-old volunteer teacher in western Kenya. Kenya grabbed my heart – the adventure, the stark reality of life in Africa and the desperate need for Jesus. I returned to the UK and realised I needed further training, so I spent two years at All Nations Christian College, where I met my wife, Bronwen. We then spent a few years trying to work out where the Lord was calling us to. We visited Mozambique for two weeks, and were impacted by a short weekend up in the north of the country; we saw the desperate need for gospel workers among the Mwani people (a Muslim unreached people group). The next ten years we were involved in church planting among the Mwani before returning to the UK in 2015. I then became AIM’s mission advisor in the south of England and Wales.

One of the most challenging things about following Jesus is that he wants our everything. Not a quarter or a half – everything. Just as Christ gave his all for us, so, out of deep gratitude, we in turn give our all for him. One of the great things about my job as a mission advisor is that I get to regularly meet up and have a Coke with people enquiring about serving the Lord in Africa. As we talk, I’m constantly challenged by the very real cost of serving him that each person must wrestle with. Just recently, I spoke with an enquirer for whom going to Africa will not only mean missing his family, friends and church, but the hardest thing for him is the fact that he will need to give up his job; a job that is very precious to him.

Behind the scenes with Tim

Want to help?

Do you read the articles here with a longing to get involved? Perhaps as you read of the needs in Africa, you think, “If only my family were at a stage where we could go…” or “If only my health allowed…” There can be many reasons why we can’t go Africa (though there is also never a perfect time to go). But as well as serving overseas, there are many ways to get involved in mission. Currently we’re looking for people to partner with us financially. To sustain Tim’s work, and the other vital functions of our home office, we need to see an increase in giving to our general fund. Your contribution would mean that those who can go to Africa would continue to get the best support and guidance that we can offer.

While Africa is a continent of vast need and grinding poverty, one of the things that is most important for people considering serving the Lord there is not professional experience (although that’s good), or language ability (also good), instead it’s having a heart that beats for the Lord Jesus. When I meet someone and recognise this person is passionately in love with the Lord Jesus – that’s when I get excited. The people AIM sends to Africa, whatever they do, whoever they are, they must be head over heels in love with Jesus. The needs of Africa are so great that in a real sense, only God can sort them out! True transformation only ever comes when the human heart is transformed, and only Jesus Christ can do that.

Connected to prayer

I love journeying alongside enquirers as they consider how the Lord is leading them. My aim is to use the experience I have of working with AIM in Africa to encourage, advise and envision enquirers. I am grateful to be a part of an organisation that seeks to support and encourage its workers in so many different ways; providing pastoral support while in the UK and on the field in Africa, pre-assignment assessments, advice and encouragement in support raising, administrative support (pension and tax support) through to strategic, and practical support when they are in Africa. If you ever consider serving in Africa, I’d love to have a Coke with you!

Pray & Donate

To pray for Tim and the rest of the team, you can find AIM’s office prayer letter here.

Donations to our general fund provide the financial resources for Tim’s work and other vital functions. To sustain these going forward we need to see growth in our general fund. Please would you consider donating so that we can continue to recruit and support both short and long term missionaries on the field? To donate, visit our give page.